[1962]

It spread quickly that Steven Meeks had attended the infamous Welton Academy in Vermont, leaving the poor young man to suddenly be on everyone's radar, and be the butt of everyone's joke. He'd had experience prior, with Charlie sometimes making jokes about him, but they were friends, and he found he missed it when he was expelled in their final year. There had been no more chaos. Just quiet. The kind of quiet that suffocated you until you couldn't breathe.

But that had passed. Hellton was history, and Steven was studying engineering at Yale, much like his Father had always planned. He got to tinker and toy to his heart's content, though he didn't have much of a social life.

That was until Winter came along - the season he'd tried to associate with nostalgia rather than loss. Neil wouldn't want that. He'd want them to fly. That's why the boys had arranged to go ice skating.

Steven's cheeks had never hurt so much from smiling at seeing all his friends: Charlie's cocky smirk, the confident glint in Knox's eye, Todd's wide grin, and Pitts' quiet smile. That was the kind of quiet he liked. The one that severely judged you even when you knew it so well.

The young men hugged, Steven's cheeks heating up when Chris Noel wrapped her arms around him and pressed a fond kiss to his temple. It seemed the others hadn't had much luck love-wise either. He found comfort in that.

They hired their skates and then Knox and Chris were off, apparently naturals on the ice. Todd muttered a soft carpe diem, before wobbly skating away, followed by Charlie's enthusiastic to indeed be a god!

Pitts glanced down at his best friend, that same teasing twinkle in his eye. "You coming, Meeks?"

He nodded, trying to calculate the best way of doing this without falling over and making a fool of himself. "I-I'll catch you up."

Pitts just smirked, before slapping him on the back and letting his long legs carry him away with the gracefulness of a baby giraffe.

Come on, Steven.

He took a breath before gliding onto the ice, trying to watch the technique of the more skilfull as they whizzed past. As it was a lake, there was nothing to hold to. He quickly did some calculations, muttering numbers, masses, constants under his breath, all in the hopes that his old pal physics wouldn't let him down.

It didn't, thank goodness.

He was soon skating somewhat well, confidence increasing as he went. He enjoyed the feel of the breeze in his curls, even when they were partially covered by his beanie, and the flush his cheeks gained from the air.

Once they'd done a few laps, the group paused for breath - and something to hold onto - while exchanging stories. Halfway through Charlie rambling about a girl he was convinced was interested in him, Steven noticed a group bump into a young woman who had been skating contentedly by herself, knocking her over. To his confusion and annoyance, the group just laughed, before carrying on.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was skating over, ignoring the comments from his friends about where he was going. He managed to stop in front of her at a socially safe distance, and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Miss?" he asked softly, holding his gloved hand out. "Are you alright?"